Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go - how to access Kirkdale Press ebook

Dec 8, 2011, 7:19am

So far three of the five reviews for November book Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go are saying that they cannot access the book without downloading special software. I was able to read it without doing this, once I figured out how.

The publisher has signed each of us reviewers up to a site called Logos (which was a bit annoying, since they didn't ask permission first).

1) Find the email from Logos.com, click on the link to reset your password.2) Use this new password along with the email address you use at LibraryThing to log into their sister site www.biblia.com3) Ignore the Bible if it is opened automatically, go to the top right hand corner of the screen and click on the book icon (Library).4) Find Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go in the list of books that are available to you and click on it.5) You may find that it is opened in parallel to the Bible, rather than by itself. If so, you can click on the image of the book cover just to the left of the name of the book and select "Show Reading View (fullscreen)" or "Stretch Across Both Columns".6) You can now read this in your browser in a fairly straight-forward html format. I didn't download the Vyrso app, so I can't comment on what it's like to use.

The (perfectly friendly) email I got with the instructions also asked me to post my review on Amazon and Good Reads, which I have not done, since I don't think I am obliged to as part of the Early Reviewer programme. For what it's worth I do vastly prefer publishers who just let you download a DRM free ebook in a choice of formats, and don't make you jump through any hoops. It can't be to the author's advantage for the publisher to annoy the reviewers! (Yes I know I'm getting to read a book for free, but lots of grumpy reviews are bad from their point of view too.)

Dec 8, 2011, 9:07am

Dec 8, 2011, 11:47am

I've received ER ebooks before that required me to sign up for a website (e.g. NetGalley) before I could read them. There's only a subtle difference between that, and the publisher starting the sign-up process for us, I suppose. Either way we've committed ourselves to writing a review if we want to keep our LT-ER cred as someone who actually writes reviews of the free books they win.

In actual fact, this was less trouble to me than the process for using NetGalley was, since I had to install Adobe Digital Editions on my computer that time, if I recall correctly.

Dec 13, 2011, 8:56am

Dec 14, 2011, 7:38pm

As the publicist for Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go and Kirkdale Press I’d like to say that I’m really sorry for the frustration this caused our reviewers. We really do value your input and we want to make this process as smooth as possible so thank you for your comments.

This was our first book and our first giveaway with LT. We tried to be as clear as possible on the ER page and in the follow-up email that the review copy of Whither must be read on our platform. Reviewers can read the book using the free Vyrso app for iPad, iPhone, Android phones and tablets, and the Kindle Fire. The app is free and very simple to download.

For people who do not have a smartphone or tablet, the book can be read online at Biblia.com. You do not have to download any program to your computer. All you need is a logos.com account, which can be used across all of our sites: www.logos.com (for biblical reference ebooks), http://vyrso.com (for Christian ebooks), http://biblia.com (for reading), and www.proclaimonline.com (for Church presentation software).

We told our reviewers, “To save you the extra step, we will create an account for you on Vyrso and unlock the book in your account. You will receive an email notifying you that your account has been created and that you can reset your password.” We did this for convenience, with the idea that asking the reviewer to create an account, and email us so that we could unlock the book, would be too much trouble.

Again, I’m really sorry if this caused you any frustration. Gemmation was right in her comment; we want to make you happy! In the future, we will shoot for more clarity and less confusion.

** On a side note, please do not post a negative review of Naomi Dathan’s book if you were unhappy with me or the process. The author did not make a mistake and her book should not have to suffer. In short, blame the messenger, not the message!

Dec 14, 2011, 8:02pm

Did you tell your reviewers that you were going to sign them up before they decided whether or not to request the book through ER??? Let them make their decision before they request or don't request the book?

The only thing that I could find on your ER entry for last month was that it would have to be read on the Vyrso software, nothing about signing people up without their permission for a third party website.

I didn't win this book, so I'm just speaking on general principal, but for me, any website that signs me up without my permission on their website goes directly into the 'never gonna visit you again' pile. (Right next to websites that have yellow backgrounds and red type).

Dec 16, 2011, 7:34pm

Thanks for your comment, Ryan.

To be honest with you I am still not satisfied that creating accounts for all the reviewers on logos.com was the best way to go about it. A little bit of belated googling shows me that Logos and Kirkdale Press are connected, but I didn't know that when I got the "thank you for creating an account" email, so it gave the appearance of Kirkdale Press passing my actual name and email address on to some random website, and then telling me about it afterwards.

In fairness I think I also misread the note on the Early Reviewers page ("Format: Review copies can be read on the free Vyrso app for iPad, iPhone, Android, PC, or Mac"). I sort of skimmed past the idea of needing to use an "app" since I read books on the computer rather than a phone (even though, sure enough, "PC" is in the list).

I'd still vastly prefer to be trusted with a non-DRM ebook in an industry-standard format. If you could feed that back to whoever makes those kinds of decisions, it'd be appreciated. Would it be feasible to make your books available to reviewers (if not customers) in even one format which didn't entail membership in logos/vyrso/etc? I don't know how many other atheists request inspirational romances, but I didn't really appreciate suddenly finding myself a member of a Bible-study website.

Dec 20, 2011, 8:15am

Dec 27, 2011, 3:30pm

Kathy, I just sent you another email that will let you reset your password. If it doesn't show up in your inbox I would check your spam folder. If you have any more questions let me know. ryan.rotz {a t} logos.com